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Walking With the Poor: Principles and Practices of Transformational Development

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"Walking with the Poor..." is simply the best single book about holistic Christian development theory, theology, and real Christian organizational practice which I have read to date. The purpose of the book in Myers' own words "is to describe a proposal for understanding the principles and practice of transformational development (positive material, social and spiritual change) from a Christian perspective. It is my intention to try to bring together the basic streams of thinking and experience. The best of the principles and practice of the international development community needs to be integrated with the thinking and experience of Christian relief and development nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). Then these two streams of experience need to be informed and shaped by a biblical framework for transformational development." For the most part, Myers achieves his purpose.

Myers quotes liberally from many other development thinkers and theologians from both economically developed countries and lesser developed countries. He uses wonderful diagrams that are worth their weight in gold for those who learn visually, and his appendices list pertinent Biblical texts and ways to evaluate spiritual transformation in a community. If you are a Christian working anywhere in development, you need to read this book! "Walking With the Poor" introduces a variety of development paradigms and theological reflections about development to those who may never have studied development formally and includes material likely to be new to even the more experienced development practitioner. "Walking With the Poor" is especially useful to get westerners thinking about and praying about how much they do not know about indigenous people, their worldviews, the problems they face, and the importance of the spiritual aspects of development work. Specific topic areas addressed are: a)differing Christian worldviews; b)Christian theology for development including "Third World" theologians views; c) descriptions of major development writers secular and sacred theories of development; d)the importance of participation of the poor in project design and management; e)some methods used by World Vision and other development organizations for encouraging participation by the poor; and f)some transformational evaluation methods used by World Vision.

The only mild criticism is that the book uses too many World Vision examples and experiences (which is reasonable given Myers' position as Vice-President of that organization) and does not include as much about other Christian NGOs work.

I loved this book. I mean I LOVED this book! It probably took me longer to read it than it took the author to write it, because I kept underlining it and pausing to consider the concepts!

My only two concerns were this: The book should be marketed to ALL followers of Jesus, not just those people who work in full time humanitarian aid! Every follower of Christ is called to make disciples--and we need to recognize that this means holistic discipleship--promoting the advancement of health in every area of life: spiritually, physically, mentally, etc. That is primarily what this book is about, and every follower of Christ can benefit from it.

The other issue I'd like to bring up is that the book refers to having to work with the local institutional church, and how even though that is often difficult, it has to be done. My concern here is that there are other ways to integrate "church" into community development--like discipling the people to start their own simple fellowships. Too often institutional churches provide perpetual spiritual "relief" rather than "development". By that I mean that the pastor or leaders just "tell people how it is" rather than helping new Believers dig into the Bible on their own. It's like a spiritual "welfare program". Is it reasonable to suggest that since holistic community development means helping people to help themselves spiritually as well as in other ways, then we should promote/facilitate the kind of churches that model this? The house/simple church movement that encourages "every member ministry", church as a lifestyle, shared responsibilities, dialogue over monologue, etc., should at least be a strong consideration. I pray for the day when Christian humanitarian aid workers and church planters recognize that their work is identical if truly done holistically! IE discipling people in life-giving lessons that can be easily transferred to others (II Timothy 2:2), while alternating topics from day to day or week to week. One day the lesson may be about oral rehydration solution, and the next day it's on forgiveness, etc. Both are vital lessons for the health of the community, and both can be easily passed on by the local people, while working in a field or sitting under a tree, etc.! Holistic teaching IS promoted in this book, but it's not seen as empowering the local people to lead their own simple, reproducing churches.

"Church Planting Movements" by David Garrison, "Houses that Change the World" by Wolfgang Simson, and "Going to Church in the First Century" by Dr. Robert Banks are helpful books on this topic.

While this book is not an easy read, it is extremely thought provoking and enlightening. Everyone involved in any kind of mission work will benefit from the wisdom and guidance in this book. I've already bought 30 copies for key folks from our church involved in or planning transformational development work locally and internationally.

This is an excellent, practical presentation of what biblical transformation can look like. An excellent presentation of the biblical story & world view, with a helpful and practical description of the kingdom of God and Shalom. It presents poverty not simply as an economic issue, but a relational issue with a spiritual root.

I have already given away several copies of this book and plan to give more away. Should be required reading for all churches and church planters.

Bryant Myers approaches the conversation of Christian social development recognizing that existing preconceived notions of Christian social work have proven to be unhelpful. His first task involves deconstructing the modern paradigm, this enduring legacy of the Enlightenment, which separates the material realm from the spiritual realm and thereby separates community development from evangelism.

After constructing a theology that provides a more holistic view of Christian witness, Myers deconstructs the fallacy that the label `poor' suggests: that there exist underdeveloped people in need of help from developed people. Utilizing analyses from leading social scientists, he summarizes the many overlapping factors of society that create the phenomenon of poverty. Myers lands here on one of his key theses, that poverty is primarily a relational issue whose cause is primarily spiritual. These two insights allow Myers to construct his definition of transformational development while emphasizing that the relational brokenness caused by spiritual dysfunction is also present in the non-poor.

Myers realizes that poverty is a complex phenomenon that no one Christian ideology addresses completely. Still, a key theological concept for Myers is the incarnation. Christ's ministry was a ministry of being - setting up tent in the neighborhood of humanity. Thus, the developmental practitioner must begin alongside the poor, willing to legitimate their story and meet them in that story.

Myers refuses to adopt simple charity as a means of helping the poor. The love of Jesus demonstrated in the incarnation cannot be reduced to a romantic ideal. It is a love that challenges unjust systems and worldviews. Thus, while providing for basic needs is important and necessary, the developmental practitioner engages the messy realities that create poverty, empowering the people to challenge them through peace with justice. This is not the myth of human progress marked by Modernism, it is the power of God to untangle the web of lies which entrap poor and non-poor alike and provide a vision for a redemptive future.

Myers gives a balanced and holistic view of a Christian approach to transformational development, which focuses on the local community not the agencies "helping", and acknowledges and addresses the whole person within the community (and within aid agencies). Though obviously not a literary classic, this is well-written and readable. Theologically it is orthodox and reformed (though not overtly so, and very accessible to other traditions). If you want to know more about how Christian agencies like World Vision (for whom Myers worked when he wrote the book) can be effective in poor and struggling communities around the world, this is a great starting point.

"Walking with the Poor" is a book in which Meyers hopes to develop a Christian understanding of development, to which he gives the name, "Transformational Development". The book integrates insights from theology, social science, and spirituality to arrive at a comprehensive picture of what Christian development looks like.

The book proceeds by examining the biblical story, then by looking at poverty and development from a social science perspective. Bryant than lays out his program of transformational development, with sections on the story, principles, practices, and finally provides a toolkit. The result is that when Bryant lays out his program of development in the final part, he is able to synthesize biblical insights as well as social science insights to come up with his idea of transformational development.

Bryant writes the book attempting to solve the question about the relationship between Christian development work and Christian missionary witness. Bryant begins by analyzing the idea that witness is something added onto development, as a kind of extraneous part. Secular development programs therefore do certain things, and Christian development programs do these things as well as adding on evangelism or witness. Bryant sees this approach as deeply problematic, noting that such an approach reinforces a modern viewpoint in which the spiritual world and physical world are separated.

Building on the work of Paul Hiebert, Bryant argues instead for an integrated approach to development that connects the sacred and profane as well as includes the "excluded middle", which is the space where the sacred and profane worlds intersect. This integrated approach Bryant calls "transformational development". By this, Bryant sees development as positive change in all areas of life, including spiritual, physical, mental, economic, and societal.

Bryant's book was helpful in thinking about the ways in which to integrate Christian witness and development. Bryant's careful analysis of the modern worldview which has lead Christians to separate the physical and social from the spiritual and sacred is much needed. But beyond just pointing out the problem, Bryant begins to show what fixing the problem might mean. Bryant's book helpfully shows a way forward to think about Christian mission in terms of transformation at every level. This impacts not just Christian mission overseas, but Christian mission wherever Christians find themselves, including in our own neighborhoods and cities. Bryant's method itself supports his argument. Bryant analyzes issues and theoretical questions from a variety of levels, such as biblical and theological, as well as using the social sciences.

With Walking with the Poor, Bryant L. Myers has written a book to help bring a new understanding to the area of transformational development from a Christian perspective. Myers gives the Christian development worker understanding for how think about and practice relief work throughout the world in a holistic way. Myers starts the book by stating of the major problems in the modern development world; the disconnect between the spiritual world and the seen world. Myers then explores in detail some of the main concepts in the area of transformational development such as poverty, the Christian narrative and different ideas on how to look at development. Myers then builds off of these understandings and presents his idea of what transformational development should look like in practice. Finally, Myers brings his understanding of transformational development back to Christian witness as the practitioner is able to witness to Christ's love of the poor. In the end, Myers presents the reader with a holistic and nuanced perspective on how to bring development to the poor in a truly transformational way.

This book brings out few important concepts that really set it apart. First of all, Myers makes it a point of emphasis that the developement worker is not to come into the development situation thinking that they have all of the answers and that the poor need them. He points out that an important part of transformational development is listening to the community. No situation is the same and the practitioner needs to realize that. Also Myers emphasizes that the practitioner has as much to learn from poor as the poor do from them. This is important as their stories combine to form a shared story in which both are changed. Overall, I believe that Myers presents a thoughtful and complete understanding of what it means to be a developmental practitioner in an authentically Christian way.

Myers, Bryant L. Walking with the Poor: Principles and Practices of Transformational Development, New York: Orbis Books, 1999.

Walking with the Poor by Bryant Myers is an attempt to emphasize the importance of development and Christian spirituality in efforts to serve the world's poor. This multi-disciplinary book presents a framework for what Myers calls "transformational development" that is rooted in understanding the various "stories" that are in play when the non-poor and poor encounter one another in the name of Jesus. Myers seeks a model for holistic development that promotes holistic health for those trapped in poverty.

Myers begins with chapters that provide extensive operational definitions for both "the biblical story" and "poverty". The biblical story chapter emphasizes the importance of spirituality in development, and raises the point that, all too often, we tend to live as though God were not active and interested in our lives (p. 33). Such a perspective carries a myriad of consequences, many of which hinder transformational development. The chapter on poverty seeks to profile the world's poor (painting in broad strokes), while providing a helpful summary of the complicated causes of poverty. This was among the best chapters in the book, as it provided a) an understanding of the reality that poverty exists among the non-poor and the poor, and b) a helpful corrective in that it demonstrated that poverty is a complex issue with a wide range of causes, all of which must be addressed by Christian development workers.

Later in the book, Myers discusses the importance of articulating the goals of development. Such articulation can prevent development work from simply becoming the distribution of non-sustainable handouts. Myers also focuses on the role of the development worker, and emphasizes the importance of being aware of the beliefs and practices of cultures where development work is done. One of the great strengths of this book is that it brings to mind those sorts of issues, which help to shed light on the complexities of transformational development work. Myers spends the second to last chapter of the book speaking to the various functions that a would-be development worker must be prepared to perform.

Throughout the book Myers makes the bold declaration that Christian development work is exactly that. It is Christian insofar as it must be incarnational and gospel-centered, and it is development work in that it seeks to solve seemingly "secular" (though not really) crises faced by those in poverty. In doing this he improves on strictly verbally kerygmatic missionary models and secular development models that over-emphasize professionalism at the expense of a recognition of the reality of God and His work.

My primary critique of the book would be its lack of emphasis on the importance of the church. Myers speaks to the church briefly (p. 126-128), and while he affirms the importance of the church, he does not go into very much detail in clarifying the role of the church in development. Frankly, much of the book reflects a frustration with the church that is found in much of the parachurch world (whether that is justified or not is outside the bounds of this review). My second critique would simply be that the book is too theoretical. While the theory is good, I found myself constantly asking the question, "what does this practically look like on the ground?" as I read this book.

Those two critiques aside, Myers book is well done, and it is an excellent primer for those interested in development work.

Walking With the Poor is a seminal book on working in transformational development. If you want to help the poor, and you care about whether the poor people you come into relationship with are really helped, then you need to read this book.

Myers gets into the basic questions that we need to face in work with the poor. What are the root causes of poverty? What is God calling us to in our relationships with the poor? What are the end goals for them and for us? What kind of attributes and tools does a transformational development worker need to have to answer what God is calling us to and reach those end goals? Because of the fundamental nature of these questions and the wide body of theological research that Myers surveys in pursuing answers, it can often get dense. But if you care about the answers to those questions, the material deserves a careful read.

There's far too much good stuff to summarize, so I'll just highlight a few things that helped me. In looking at the causes of poverty, Myers's surveys of Jayakumar Christian's investigation of the "web of lies" that entrap the poor and of Walter Wink's list of "delusional assumptions" were both helpful. The information on "God-complexes of the non-poor" is also especially good. In looking into what constitutes Godly, Kingdom-focused transformational development, the explanations of what kind of end goals we're looking for, how we can best go about evaluating our progress, and what kind of person it takes to meet these goals were all worth copying and saving. The final sections on bringing together evangelism and development were also excellent and prayerfully thought out.
This is the kind of book that I know I'm going to have to go back to and read again as I continue my journey of working alongside the poor. If you have an analytical mind and are willing to give the book the energy it deserves, I highly recommend it.

I also highly recommend the related "When Helping Hurts" by Steve Corbett and Brian Fikkert as a shorter, more mainstream-targeted book that tackles the same subject for the layman who is interested in serving the poor.

I'll end the review with one quote from Myers. I think this really sums up the message of the book:

"The challenge to the poor is to recover their identity as children of God and to discover their vocation as productive stewards, discovering that they have been given gifts to contribute to social well-being. The challenge to the non-poor is to relinquish their god-complexes and to employ their gifts for the sake of all human beings rather than using their gifts as a source of power or control."